Children's & Young People's Services
ContactPoint in Bexley
What is ContactPoint?
“ContactPoint will be the quick way to find out who else is working with the same child or young person”
Formerly known as The Children’s Information Sharing Index, or ISI,
will be a record of all children and young people living in England. It will
be a tool for use by children’s workforce staff and will provide details
of others also working with that child. ContactPoint will facilitate greater
communication across agencies by professionals, thus helping earlier identification
of needs and earlier, more effective action to address those needs.
Here in Bexley, ContactPoint is part of the Information Sharing Agenda programme.
Users of ContactPoint will be able to:
- Verify the identity of a child or young person who comes to their attention
- Assess whether that child is receiving universal services (education, primary health care)
- Make contact with professionals who are involved with the child in order to plan and deliver the most appropriate response to their needs and circumstances
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What information will ContactPoint hold?
ContactPoint will hold basic information about all children and young people aged under 18 in England, including:
- name, address, gender and date of birth of child;
- contact details for:
- parent/carers
- educational setting (e.g. school)
- primary medical practitioner (e.g. GP practice)
- professionals providing other services
- lead professional (if one exists)
- a member of staff that has completed a CAF (where relevant)
ContactPoint will not hold any assessment information, case
information or subjective observations about child or family circumstances.
For adults leaving care or with learning difficulties, information may be
retained up to the age of 25 (with the consent of the individual concerned).
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What legislation establishes ContactPoint?
Section 12 of The  Children Act 2004 contains provision for the establishment of a national index containing basic information about all children in England. This is for the purposes of supporting organisations to fulfil responsibilities under Sections 10 (co-operation to improve wellbeing) and 11(arrangements to safeguard and promote welfare)of the Act or Section 175 of the Education Act 2002.
Further to this the The
Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007 came into force on 1st August 2007.
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Will ContactPoint be secure?
Keeping the information (most of which is already available in other systems)
on ContactPoint safe and secure, and ensuring that it is only accessed by people
who have a right to access it, is of paramount importance.
Design and operation of ContactPoint will adhere to international standards
for information security management, as well as conforming to Government security
standards. It will also be subject to independent review by security experts.
Access will be strictly restricted to those who need it for their work. Logon
will be subject to a ‘2-factor authentication’ process (entry of
valid password, PIN and electronic token value). Enhanced CRB (Criminal Records
Bureau) clearance within the last 3 years will be a pre-condition to becoming
a user of ContactPoint. Another pre-condition for use will be formal training.
This will include security and information sharing principles.
A reason must be given for each access and all accesses will be audited.
Patterns of use that may indicate misuse will be investigated.
Contact details of professionals working in sensitive services will be restricted
based on provision of consent by the young person or parent/carer as appropriate.
There will also be special arrangements to protect the records of children whose
circumstances may mean that they are at increased risk.
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How can the Government be confident that ContactPoint will be worthwhile?
A number of trailblazer local authorities have been piloting a range of local
'index' approaches.These pilots have the common element of holding basic information
on every child in at least part of their local area.
The trailblazers' experience has demonstrated that this type of tool produces some key benefits:
- Improved service experience for children, young people and families.
- Faster and more effective intervention before problems become serious, because
practitioners have a fuller picture of children and young people's needs.
- Reduction in the unproductive time spent by practitioners trying to find out which other services are involved with a child and trying to contact the right person.
- Quicker assessment of whether a child is receiving universal services (education, primary health care).
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Will a parent or child be able to access information?
Children, and parent/carers when acting on their behalf, have rights under the Data Protection Act to see data that is held about them and to request that incorrect data is corrected or removed.
Existing legislation and good practice specifies a number of circumstances
where such requests cannot be granted. For example where there is likelihood
that divulging detail may put the child at increased risk of harm; or where a
young person is deemed to have capacity to withhold consent for a parent/carer
to view information about them.
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Where can I find out more?
For further information about ContactPoint please refer to the following links:
 ContactPoint - factsheet (August 2007).pdf (58.46KB)
How ICS, CAF and ContactPoint fit together - Factsheet
Information sharing guidance - factsheet.pdf (174.62KB)
Alternatively, please contact Sue Gower, IS/CAF Co-ordinator on 020 8836 8401, or email sue.gower@bexley.gov.uk for more information.
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